1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to a mounting bracket assembly, and in particular to such assemblies where one bracket is slideably received within and supports the other bracket, one of the brackets being provided with a self-operating latch mechanism.
2. Prior Art
A large market exists for bracket assemblies which are adapted to mount electrically powered accessory units to a support member. For example, automotive, marine entertainment and two-way communications for mobile units. One such market is the automotive entertainment aftermarket. Vehicle owners require a removable bracket assembly for mounting accessories such as tape players, radios, speakers and the like to a support such as the underside of a dashboard or the fire wall. Frequently it is convenient, where one operator uses multiple vehicles to remove the accessory unit from one permanently mounted bracket support in one vehicle and transfer the unit to another permanently mounted bracket in the other vehicle.
A variety of bracket assemblies is known for fulfilling these functions. Theft of these accessories has been a major problem and a variety of techniques is also known for providing means to lock the bracket assemblies together, such as the anti-theft bracket device of U.S. Pat. No. 3,822,049, or for locking the bracket and unit directly to the support member, such as the locking device of U.S. Pat. No. 3,766,759. In either of the above patents, the accessory units are removable from their mounting position but, to do so, the operator must first unlock the locking mechanism with a key. This provides an annoyance or inconvenience to the owner who frequently chooses to leave the locked unit intact in the automobile. Thus, thieves continue to try to enter the automobile and defeat the locks. This frequently results in damage to the automobile and/or to the accessory unit.
Another way to solve the theft problem is to design the brackets so that they are easily disengaged so that the accessory unit can be removed by the owner when he leaves the automobile. In such cases the unit can be locked safely either in the glove compartment or in the trunk, one half of the mounting bracket being left in the automobile in an inconspicuous place so that a thief is not enticed to forcibly enter the vehicle and damage any portion of it while searching for the unit. One known quickly detachable mounting bracket assembly provides an upper U-shaped bracket fixed to the underside of the dashboard slideably receiving and supporting a bottom U-shaped bracket fixed to the accessory. The upper bracket has a pair of spring biased roller means mounted at its side edges which snap into slots in the side portions of the bottom bracket when the brackets are in the fully assembled relation. Such an assembly, while easily removable by the operator, suffers from the same disadvantage of the anti-theft devices discussed above when such devices are left in an unlocked condition for easy removal, namely, the accessory units become body-injuring-missiles under the slightest rear end impact which causes the selfoperating latches to release.